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Saturday, July 25, 2009

I remember "discovering" Southern Living when I was about 16 spending a summer vacation at my grandmother's farmhouse in North Carolina. It was a dry afternoon and the only "air conditioning" was a box fan propped up in an open window of the old home. It was one of those afternoons that was so hot you could hear the heat because even the bugs were quiet and still. In an effort to remain cool, I spent an afternoon minimizing activity by reading a few years worth of back issues of Southern Living.

I specifically remember reading about the difference between chicken fried steak and country fried steak. I am pretty sure that was the first day I ever wrote down a recipe to try, it was a flank steak with equal parts of oil, red wine, and soy sauce. But from then on, I was curious about food and how I could make mine better.

Sorry, I drifted off there for a minute. Now I get Southern Living every month courtesy of my parents. It is one of my favorite Christmas presents because I get it 12 times! Tonight we wanted to do something easy and quick without making a mess in the kitchen, so we tried the Avocado-Tomato Toss. We halved the recipe.

InstructionsWhisk the oil into the cilantro, vinegar, lime juice, and salt in a large bowl. Add the tomatoes, red onion and avocados, tossing gently to coat. Serve over the shredded romaine.

I messed up by tossing it all together with the romaine but it turned out alright anyway. I also added a little cracked black pepper.Alexis and I both loved it. It has all of the hallmarks of a good salad for me, varied textures, a little sweet, and a little bite. A little pedestrian, perhaps, but like I said, we were aiming for simple. If you don't like cilantro, this one isn't for you because I think cilantro is what gives it the signature flavor.

Some of the other recipes I have marked in the August issue to try are:Chicken and Green Chile EnchiladasGrilled Fingerling Potato SaladMaque Choux (a dish we've previously enjoyed from Sharlene)Bourbon Marinated Pork TenderloinFiesta Brisket

Personally, I always come to nibblemethis.blogspot.com for my recipes (used ur simple pork roast recipe last night). I ALWAYS pick up Cooks Illustrated. I love that they tell you all of the things they did wrong in the test kitchen. Makes me feel better about my own mishaps. I usually just peruse the cooking mags at the bookstore to see what looks good. On my coffe table, I have a couple of issues of Food and Wine, 1 Gourmet (really hit or miss), Cooks Country and of course Cooks Illustrated. And I use google a lot.

I'm not a person who LOVES to cook, but this solved a what am I bringing tonight problem for me. It sounds delicious, and I have everything but the cilantro. I will go get that this afternoon. I am going to throw some sunflower seeds on top as well. I was supposed to bring (store bought-cough) macaroni salad-& that seemed so boring to me. This will go over MUCH better.Thanks. ~Mary

My favorite source for recipes are my mothers old cookbooks. Some of them are from the 1960s and painfully dated to today's standards of fine eating. But there are classics and a few surprisingly astute and modern things too. It's fun to reinvent them too for the way I cook and eat. GREG

At first glance I was expecting to see them either in the trash (hence toss), or outside with some horse shoes laying around them...but I like what I found instead, and the other would have been a bit messy! Love me some avocados!